Cauliflower-Crust Grilled Cheese Is Actually Quite Decent

Since starting this low-carb thing I’ve been inundated with cauliflower recipes. Some of them I already knew and liked, such as Mashed Cauliflower. Others were not a hit, like Cauliflower Crust Pizza.

But the other night, with two weeks left to go in this low-carb experiment, I decided to try another recipe: Cauliflower Crust Grilled Cheese.

Even though the recipe for the cauliflower “bread” was almost identical to the recipe for the cauliflower pizza crust, I had high hopes for this recipe because I think that cheddar cheese goes better with cauliflower than tomato sauce does.

The recipe is just as much a pain in the ass as the pizza one, too. I think it would be better if I were making it for more than one person, but all of that trouble for one sandwich (I made half the recipe) didn’t seem worth it. However, I was desperate to find something new and tasty and very low carb.

One thing you should know about dealing with cauliflower is that it’s annoying to get it off of the stem. Unlike broccoli, where the stalks are longer and farther apart, cauliflower is really dense. This is where one of my favorite kitchen gadgets comes in: The Cauliflower Corer. You just twist it in and voila, the florets fall off of the stem! It’s pretty amazing.

Then you have to pulse the florets in a food processor, then microwave them, then (and this is the hardest part) squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Total pain. I need to invent an easier way to do that part.

After that its pretty easy. You mix it with the rest of the ingredients, shape it into patties, bake it, and then fry it up with butter on the outside like a regular grilled cheese.

I used a good sharp cheddar, and it was tasty. I mean, there’s no way that I would choose this over a “real” grilled cheese, but if you’re looking for a low-carb substitute, this is a good one. I just wish it weren’t so time consuming.